…As Buhari canvasses more support for farmers
The African Development Bank Group (AfDB), on Wednesday hinted of its plans to commit $10 billion over the next five years to boost Africa’s efforts to end hunger in the continent and transform it into a primary food provider for itself and the global community.
The Bank’s Group President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, who gave this hint at the Dakar 2 Africa Food Summit in Diamniadio, Senegal on Wednesday, urged the 34 heads of state, 70 government ministers, the private sector, farmers, development partners, and other stakeholders to synergize efforts to ensure agriculture transformation across the continent.
Specifically, the development finance expert encouraged them to take collective action to unlock the continent’s agricultural potential to become a global breadbasket.
Speaking at the forum in support of the position of the AfDB, President Muhammadu Buhari, charged the countries to offer more robust support for farmers, dedicate a chunk of the national budget to agriculture, and motivate youth and women to embrace farming.
He said: “Feeding Africa is imperative. We must ensure we feed ourselves today, tomorrow, and well into the future.”
While commending the AfDB team for rolling out special agro-industrial processing zones across the continent, including in Nigeria, Buhari noted that “special agro-industrial processing zones are game changers for the structural development of the agriculture sectors. They will help us generate wealth, develop integrated infrastructure around special agro-processing zones, and add value.”
In his opening remarks, President of Republic of Senegal, who is also the African Union (AU) chairperson, Macky Sall, maintained that the time had come for the continent to feed itself by adding value and stepping up the use of technology.
He said: “From the farm to the plate, we need full food sovereignty, and we must increase land under cultivation and market access to enhance cross-border trade.”
Also, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, told the delegates that the Dakar summit was timely and would provide innovative solutions to help Africa become less dependent on food imports.
Mahamat, who charged the African leaders and other participants at the forum to make “food sovereignty should be our new weapon of freedom” also appealed to the development partners to work together within existing structures, such as Agenda 2063 and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA), for sustainable transformation of the continent’s agriculture sector.
